Although she often longs for the English gardens of her home country, Teacher Assistant Alison Roberts feels right at home working with the kindergarten students in Minnieville Elementary School’s new “Kinder-Garden.”

The students are growing lettuce, peppers, rainbow chard, and many other vegetables and herbs. Two Girl Scout troops which meet at the school are helping Roberts and the kindergarten gardeners.

Until this year, kindergartners and other classes used the school’s indoor tower garden and a small box garden outside when studying their “Living Things” unit in science. The gardens provide a hands-on approach to the life cycle of plants and pollination. Expanding the small kindergarten planting area this year into a larger garden that could be used by the entire Minnieville community is the brainchild of Principal Nathaniel Provencio.

Provencio shared his vision with Director of School Food and Nutrition Services, Adam Russo, who committed funds to bring this vision to life. Thanks to the collaboration with School Food and Nutrition Services, Minnieville Elementary now has a greenhouse and several raised garden beds in its Kinder-Garden.

“We are always looking for ways to live our mission of ‘Commitment, Collaboration, and Community,’ and this Kinder-Garden project encompasses the true spirit of the mission,” said Assistant Principal Deborah Ellis.

Provencio looks forward to drawing the interest of community volunteers to help keep the boxed garden plots going. When the students prepared to harvest their leafy and green first crops, Principal Provencio told them, “There’s nothing like growing your own salad!”